Richard Taylor, a copyright expert with media lawyers DLA Piper, said: "My advice is that trademark and copyright owners should try and be generous to their fan base."

Except, of course, where the copyright owner receives a guaranteed income, in which case they're free to stick two fingers up to the fan base. Ditto, with highly-paid BBC executives grubbing for freebies. Back in the day, public servants might have had some qualms about being seen to exploit public office so blatantly, but all those years free of accountability have produced an organisation that's more than usually shameless.